Time is Not a Line
by chocolatequeen
Summary: Shortly after leaving San Francisco, the TARDIS brought the Doctor to London in April, 2005 to take care of a temporal anomaly. When he finally succeeds, he's surprised to find a glimpse of his own future in Rose Tyler's past.
1. Chapter 1

AN: For the Eight x Rose August prompt: Rose meets Eight first. Also for perfectlyrose 's prompts of going out for a drink (okay so it's tea), and "welcome home."

The Doctor's green velvet coat flapped in the wind as he raced down Oxford Street, weaving in and out of the crowds of shoppers. There was a temporal anomaly here… somewhere. The TARDIS had brought him to London to track it down and put things to right again.

He glanced down at the sonic screwdriver in his hand. He was closing in on it. Without looking up, he whipped around the corner onto Argyll Street, and directly into another person.

"Oh! I'm terribly sorry!" he said, extending his hand to the young blonde woman he'd knocked to the ground. "Please forgive my clumsiness."

She took his hand and let him pull her to her feet, then brushed herself off and shot him a teasing smile, with a hint of her tongue peeking through her teeth. "S'all right, no permanent damage," she told him.

"Still, I feel like I need to make it up to you somehow. After all, you didn't expect to be bowled over by a careless idiot while you were out shopping this afternoon."

She wrinkled her nose. "Not exactly shopping," she told him. Then, before he could ask any questions, she added, "But if you want to make it up to me, we could maybe get a cuppa? I've been out here for hours, and I could use a break."

The Doctor nodded. "Lead the way… I'm sorry, I haven't asked your name."

Humour sparkled in her warm brown eyes. "I would've expected better manners from someone who looks like he stepped out of a Jane Austen novel," she teased. "I'm Rose Tyler. An' who are you, then?"

"The Doctor."

Rose blinked at him. "The Doctor? Doctor who?"

He grinned at her—he did love it when people asked that. "Just the Doctor," he answered merrily. "Now, I think we were going to get tea." He gestured to a small shop behind them. "After you, Rose Tyler."

Rose tilted her head and stared at him for a moment, then shrugged and turned around to walk to the tea shop. The Doctor glanced down at the sonic screwdriver as he followed her, and blinked when he realised he was standing practically on top of the temporal anomaly he'd been chasing.

He raised the sonic surreptitiously and scanned the surroundings. When it passed over Rose, the diode blinked rapidly.

He looked at the woman, then back at his sonic screwdriver. _Well well, Rose Tyler. There's more to you than meets the eye._ He sighed and crossed his fingers that Rose was simply out of her own time, somehow. He liked her already, and he really didn't want her to be a villain he needed to defeat.

He changed the settings quickly and did another scan, but instead of clearing things up, he only became more confused. As far as he could tell, Rose Tyler was 100% 21st century human, so why did his ship think she didn't belong on Earth in April of 2005?

Rose was already sitting at a table when he entered the tea shop, and the Doctor took the chair opposite her. "So what were you doing on Oxford Street, if you weren't shopping?" he asked.

She sighed and set the menu down. "I'm trying to find a new job. I used to work at Henrik's, only… well." She shrugged.

The Doctor leaned back in his chair. "Why did you leave?"

Rose chuckled wryly. "You're not from around here, are you? Henrik's blew up, mate, about seven weeks ago. That was me, out of a job."

The Doctor's gaze sharpened. He considered the facts while Rose ordered, nodding absently when she asked if English breakfast was fine with him. An entire store blowing up would be a significant event—one that would impact the timelines of everyone connected to the business.

"Still, guess I should be glad I'm only unemployed," Rose continued. "I was supposed to be working that night, but I was home sick."

The hair on the back of the Doctor's neck stood on end. "That's certainly lucky," he said mildly.

"Didn't seem like it at the time. Lupine flu is nasty stuff, let me tell ya."

The Doctor blinked. "I don't think I've ever heard of the wolf flu before."

"Well, that's what the doctors told me. Couldn't stop throwing up, an' I was dizzy for two days straight. Had to go in and get an IV because I couldn't keep anything down."

Every one of the Doctor's time senses were tingling. What Rose had just described was the reaction a time sensitive being would have to their own personal timeline being shifted.

The tea came then, giving him time to organise his thoughts while Rose poured for both of them.

 _You were supposed to be at the store that night, Rose Tyler,_ he realised. _And now the Web of Time is trying to compensate for your continued presence here in London._

His mind whirled as he added milk to his own cup. If Rose didn't belong here, Time would eventually find a way to force her out of existence. It would have to.

He managed to smile charmingly and hold a normal conversation with Rose, despite the sick feeling in his gut. There was no point in getting worked up when he didn't know the details of that night yet. Maybe there was a reason she _couldn't_ be there.

They finished the tea, and the Doctor set his cup down gently in the saucer. "Well, Rose, I'm glad you weren't there that night. As you said, looking for a new job is certainly better than the alternative."

Rose sighed as she stood up. "Try telling that to my mum. I mean, to hear her going on about it, you'd think I blew up the shop myself so I wouldn't have to go back there. That's if she's not reminding me that working there was giving me 'airs and graces.'"

Rose's words sent a shiver along the Doctor's prescience, but he couldn't pinpoint what exactly had caused that reaction. If she'd been the one to blow up the shop, she would remember.

He shook his head and walked to the counter, pulling out his wallet along the way. When he opened it, he belatedly remembered a very important fact: he didn't have any British money with him.

"Oh dear," he murmured. "This is embarrassing."

Rose peered up at him. "Don't have any money?"

"Oh, I do," he said, showing her his wallet. "But I've been travelling and it's all foreign."

She sighed, but when she gave him the same smile from before, with her tongue peeking out between her teeth, he knew she wasn't really upset. "Cheapskate, you are," she said as she pulled her own wallet out of her bag. "Fine, the tea's on me, but you owe me, Doctor."

The Doctor brightened. He'd been looking for an excuse to see Rose again, after he went back to the TARDIS and tried to figure out why the timelines were circling around her.

"Can I take you to dinner?" he suggested. "I promise to get local money between now and then."

Rose put her card back in her wallet and led the way to the door. "Maybe not an actual sit-down dinner—we just met, after all. But, we could get chips and take a walk."

The Doctor grinned at her. He'd been ready to protest when she said dinner was moving too fast, but as long as he could see her again, he didn't care what they ate. "Absolutely."

"Here, then." Rose pulled a piece of paper out of her bag and jotted down an address. "That's my favourite chippy. Meet me there at seven o'clock tonight." She folded the note up and slid it into his jacket pocket. "Now, I've got to get back to work—or looking for it, at least." She waved quickly, then turned around and walked into the crowd.

As soon as she was out of sight, the Doctor remembered why exactly he needed to see Rose Tyler again, and the silly smile on his face disappeared. Time was not happy with her presence in 21st century London, and it was his duty as a Time Lord to ascertain why, and fix the situation if possible.

When he returned to the TARDIS, he crossed his arms and glared at the console. "Well that wasn't very nice of you. Sending me to track down a temporal anomaly who happens to be a lovely young woman. What am I supposed to do if it turns out Time can't compensate for her continued presence?"

The TARDIS as good as rolled her eyes at him and pushed him to sit down while she turned the monitor on. The Doctor frowned, but pulled his arm chair around so he had a better view of the screen.

A black and white security tape started playing. When he glanced at the timestamp, the Doctor quickly did the maths and guessed this was taken by a CCTV camera the night Henrik's blew up. He stared at the empty alley for a moment, then sucked in a breath when he watched his own ship materialise in the narrow space.

A moment later, the doors opened and a tall man stepped outside, still shrugging into his weathered black leather coat. The base of the Doctor's skull tightened as he took in his future self, from the lithe runner's body to the crew cut.

All thoughts of his own regeneration vanished when someone else joined him—someone he recognised.

This Rose Tyler was clearly several years older than the young woman he'd met that afternoon, but there was no mistaking the smile and blonde hair. His eyebrows rose when she took his future self's hand with an ease that suggested a long-established habit.

The future Doctor and Rose Tyler walked towards Henrik's, but just before they stepped out of the frame, the Doctor looked directly at the camera, then at Rose, leaving little doubt of what he thought his past self should do—no, what he remembered doing.

Then they were gone, leaving the present Doctor staring at a video image of his own ship and trying to figure out what exactly had just happened. How could his future self be traveling with a future Rose in her past?

Fifteen minutes later, he was still pondering the unique situation when a light flared onscreen, and then the camera cut out completely. The Doctor blinked, then remembered what Rose had said—Henrik's had blown up. Clearly, his future self was responsible for that.

The Doctor straightened up. His future self _and Rose._

That was why she'd been too sick to work—because if she'd gone in that day, she would have met a future version of herself. Even worse, she might have died in the explosion, which obviously would have caused a massive paradox. How could she be at the store in her future to blow it up, if she'd been there in her past and died?

"But how does she start travelling with me in the first place?" he wondered.

The TARDIS buzzed in exasperation, and the Doctor's jaw dropped open slightly. "Oh. _Oh!_ Of course! That's why you sent me here to find the temporal anomaly, so I could ask Rose to travel with me now, so she'll still be travelling with me in the future."

He leaned back in his chair and rubbed at his jaw. _How long is Rose Tyler going to stay with me? She was at least five years older in that video—companions don't typically stay that long._

After a moment, he shrugged. Rose staying longer with him than most wasn't really a problem, and judging by the comfortable way he'd taken her hand, his future self didn't think so either.

The Doctor jumped to his feet and pulled Rose's note out of his pocket. There was no reason to wait all afternoon for their date when he could just jump ahead. "All right, old girl," he murmured to his ship as he set the coordinates. "Take me to Rose."


	2. Chapter 2

Rose crossed her fingers as she turned the key in the lock; she really didn't want to explain her date to her mother. _Maybe Mum is at Bev's._ She sighed when the living room was dark. _Perfect._

Her luck didn't hold, however. In the ten minutes it took to change her clothes and freshen up her makeup, her mum came home. Rose heard the door open and shut as she fluffed her hair in front of the mirror, and she painted a smile on her face before stepping out of her room with her bag slung over her shoulder.

The flat smelled like curry, and Jackie waved the take-away bag as she carried it into the kitchen. "I brought us dinner."

"Oh, I'm actually going out," Rose said regretfully. "A friend and I are meeting up for chips."

Her mum leaned back on her heels to stare at her through the doorway. "Oh, are you meeting Mickey?"

Rose rolled her eyes. She'd broken up with Mickey two weeks ago, and her mum couldn't let it go. They never should have been more than friends in the first place, but as far as Jackie was concerned, Mickey was a good bloke who she could trust not to hurt her daughter.

"No, not Mickey. Just an old mate I ran into when I was out looking for a job today." She made a show of glancing at the clock as she walked to the door. "An' I've gotta go if I'm going to be on time. I'll see you later, Mum!"

The door slammed shut behind her, and Rose jogged down the stairs. She had plenty of time to meet the Doctor, but she did _not_ want to explain to her mother that she was going out with a man she'd just met who didn't even have a proper name.

Her steps slowed once she reached the courtyard, and she ran her hand through her hair as she walked to the bus stop. What kind of name was the Doctor, anyway? It was weird, but somehow, it fit the stranger.

The bus pulled up, and Rose climbed on and took a seat by the window. _Wonder if he'll still be dressed like Mr. Darcy._ She giggled softly; as odd as his outfit had been, he was definitely fit. She spent the bus ride remembering his smile and imaging the way his snug trousers would show off his bum.

She hopped off at her stop and walked down the street to the chippy, keeping her eyes open for the Doctor as she went. She finally spotted his green velvet coat just inside the cafe.

"Hello, Doctor," Rose said, offering him a smile when she stepped inside.

The Doctor's blue eyes lit up when he returned her smile, and oh, her memory hadn't failed her—he had a gorgeous smile. "Good evening, Rose. Shall we?" He gestured to the counter, and they stepped forward to place their orders. Rose bit her cheek to keep from laughing when he proudly pulled a twenty pound note out of his wallet to pay for their food.

"So," he said once they were sitting down. "How did the search for employment go this afternoon?"

Rose sighed and ate another chip before answering. "It didn't, really," she told him. "Every place I went either wasn't hiring, or they wanted someone with more experience."

The Doctor made a sympathetic noise and squeezed her hand briefly. "I'm sorry to hear that. It must be hard when everyone wants experienced workers, but no one is willing to give you any experience."

"Exactly!" Rose took a sip of her Coke. "I mean, I'd be willing to do the work if they'd just hire me."

"What did you study in school?" The Doctor watched her intently as he ate, waiting for her story.

Rose flinched. "I studied French and art, but I never sat my A-levels." She stared down at her food and tried to ignore the hot rush of shame. "I left school for this boy, Jimmy Stones—not that he was worth it, in the end." She snorted and rolled her eyes, anger bringing her confidence back. "He lived off me for six months and left me with a pile of debt."

"Well, that's certainly experience," the Doctor said wryly. "Sadly, it's not the kind that translates into employment."

"Not unless there's a job where you warn girls not to throw their lives away for wannabe rockstars."

They both laughed for a moment, then tucked into their meals. "What about travelling?" the Doctor asked after polishing off the last of his food. "Have you ever wanted to go someplace else? See new things?"

Rose rested her chin in her hand. "Yeah, for as long as I can remember. But it's not like I'll ever have a chance, is it? I mean, if wanting something could make it happen, I wouldn't be looking for work right now."

"And then we never would have met, which would have been a tragedy," the Doctor said smoothly.

Something in the way he said that made Rose blush, but she rolled her eyes and laughed. "Right, your life would've fallen apart if you hadn't met me."

The Doctor arched a brow. "I'm surprised, Rose Tyler. I thought you, of all people, would appreciate the huge impact a seemingly small event can have on our lives. After all, if you hadn't contracted the lupine flu, you might not be here."

Rose wrinkled her nose. "I'm not even sure that's really what it was," she confessed. "I mean, who's ever heard of the wolf flu?"

The Doctor's eyes narrowed. He was more than a little curious about the mysterious virus that had kept Rose from going to work that day. "You said a doctor diagnosed you, though, and prescribed a course of treatment."

She shook her head. "Yeah, but there was something off about him. He wore jeans and a jumper, with a leather jacket instead of a lab coat."

"Jeans and a leather coat, you say?" The Doctor forced himself to keep his voice even. If his future self had examined Rose, that would explain the made-up illness. "Not exactly professional attire."

"He wasn't exactly professional," Rose said. "I mean, he wasn't inappropriate or anything, but he just swept into the room and said, "'Hello, Rose Tyler. I'm the doctor'—just like you did. No real exam either, he just told me I was clearly exhibiting signs of the lupine flu, and hooked me up to an IV to rehydrate me. I never saw him after that."

The Doctor nodded slowly; that sounded very much like him. Rose's future self had probably stayed on the TARDIS to avoid running into her own past as well as her mother.

He looked at her empty newspaper-lined basket. "Would you like to take a walk? I think there's a park nearby." A park where he had parked the TARDIS, though he wasn't exactly sure how he could get her inside—this was so much easier when aliens were chasing him and he could just suggest, "Oh, let's hide in here!"

Rose grabbed the remnants of their meal and tossed them in the bin, then reached automatically for his hand. The Doctor blinked, but he found himself curling his fingers around hers just as naturally as his future self had.

She smiled up at him, and warmth settled in his belly at the sight of her tongue peeking through her teeth. "Come on then, Doctor," she said, pulling him towards the door.

The weather was unusually warm for an April night. The Doctor looked up at the sky out of habit, but in the middle of London, it was almost impossible to see the stars.

"My friend Mickey and I used to go up to the roof after dark and try to find the stars," Rose said quietly. "Well… I'd go up, and Mickey would go after me."

The Doctor shot her a sidelong glance. "You like looking at the stars, Rose?"

She bit her lip and didn't look at him, and he thought he detected a hint of a blush on her cheeks. "It's like travelling, you know?" she said. "I just wonder what's out there."

The Doctor's hearts raced. "What would you do if you could find out?"

She huffed in amusement. "Right. A chav from the estates, travelling in space. Pull the other one, why don't you."

A frown creased the Doctor's forehead. "Rose Tyler," he said, his voice a bit severe, "you are not just a chav from the estates. You are…"

He bit his tongue to keep the words, _The Bad Wolf,_ from falling from his lips. She wasn't the Bad Wolf yet, but one day…

"I'm what?" Rose said, her voice a little breathless.

He winked down at her. "Well, you're the only known survivor of the lupine flu, for one."

 _Lupine flu. The wolf flu._ Yes, Rose Tyler would one day become the Bad Wolf, all to…

The TARDIS hummed a warning in his mind, and the Doctor backed away from Rose's future reluctantly. Her timeline was so enticing, especially the way it twined around his own. But he needed to let events unfold naturally, and that would be hard if he knew everything that was going to happen to her ahead of time.

"Doctor?"

He blinked. "Yes, Rose?"

"What's a Police Public Call Box?"

The Doctor looked around the quiet park and realised they were only ten feet away from the TARDIS. He reached into his pocket for the key and took a step towards her, then registered what Rose had asked.

He turned and looked down at her, his eyes wide. "You can see her?"

Rose arched an eyebrow. "Well, yeah. She's kinda hard to miss, all big and blue."

The Doctor chuckled. "Rose Tyler, you are an absolute wonder." He spun around before she could question him again and unlocked the door. "Would you like to see what a police box looks like on the inside?" he invited.

The slight frown on Rose's face disappeared when he pushed the door open. The TARDIS had turned on the lights in the console room, and warm yellow light spilled out onto the grass.

"But that's…" She took stepped into the doorway and peered inside. "That's impossible."

"Go on inside," the Doctor encouraged softly, and after a moment's hesitation, Rose obeyed. He followed her and closed the door behind him, not once looking away from the awe on her face.

"It's… bigger on the inside."

The Doctor stepped around her to lean on the console. "Yes, she is." He watched in fascination as Rose processed that. He could see the moment the next conclusion occurred to her.

"Is it alien?" she asked, staring up at the time rotor.

The Doctor smiled proudly. Rose Tyler might not have sat her A-levels, but she was still dead clever. "Yes, she is."

Rose took a deep breath and looked him in the eye for the first time since he'd unlocked the doors. "Are you alien?"

"Yes, I am." Nerves struck the Doctor. "Is that all right?"

She nodded, almost absently. "Yeah."

"Good." The Doctor rocked back on his heels and pointed at the matching armchairs on the side of the room. "Why don't we sit and have some tea?" he suggested.

"Do aliens even drink tea?" Rose asked, but she took the chair opposite him.

"You had tea with me this afternoon."

"Right, sorry. It's just…" Her gaze drifted to the bookshelves lining the room. "This is a bit much to take in."

"She's called the TARDIS," the Doctor said as he poured the tea. "It stands for Time and Relative Dimension in Space. She can go anywhere in the universe."

Rose's gaze sharpened. "That's why you asked if I've ever wanted to travel. And if I thought about seeing the stars."

The Doctor smiled broadly. "It is. You see, Rose, you're looking for work, and I happen to be looking for a travelling companion. Adventures are always more fun when you have someone to share them with."

She took a sip of tea, then asked, "What'll I tell my mum?"

"Ah. What?"

Rose rolled her eyes. "I can't just disappear," she told him. "Mum's been protective ever since I was sick, even more after I broke up with my boyfriend. I think she'd notice if I just didn't come home."

The Doctor ate a biscuit while he pondered that question. He didn't usually have to consider his companions' families, but Rose had a point.

"What if you went home tonight and told your mother you've gotten a job that involves a lot of travelling?"

"She's gonna think I'm running away with a bloke."

"Well, you are," the Doctor said, gesturing at himself with his teacup.

Rose swatted him on the arm. "Not the way she'll be thinking."

"Ah."

They discussed it at length, and in the end, the Doctor promised to have enough proof manufactured to satisfy Jackie Tyler that he was a legitimate employer. Rose gave him her address, and he felt the strangest tug watching her walk out of the TARDIS. Rose Tyler belonged here—not in her mother's flat.

Convincing Jackie Tyler of that the next morning took more work than the Doctor had anticipated, but when he held open the door of the TARDIS for Rose, it was all worth it. Her eyes lit up when she stepped into the console room, and the ship sang a greeting.

"Welcome home, Rose Tyler." He closed the door behind him and walked to the console, feeling the burn of adventure coursing through his veins again. "Where do you want to go first?"


End file.
